The Introduction
by NikiiE
Summary: This is about someone who finds the box, and then tries to figure out where she got her new powers from. She finds out the animorphs identity(read to find out how), and then she meets up with them. This is set before David found the box. Chapter 8 UP!!
1. The Discovery

My Name is Nicole. I can't really tell you my last name. I don't know why, but I just have this feeling that I shouldn't. The reason I'm telling you this is because I have QUITE a story to tell.  
  
It started roughly 3 months ago. Actually it started sixteen and a half years ago, but thats another story. Back to 3 months ago. I was walking through an old abandoned construction site, aiming for a faster and easier route home. That was an extremely stupid thing to do.  
  
I had heard stories about that place from everywhere, and all the stories had been bad. There were stories going around school about crazed ax murderers and dangerous 'hobos'; all were gruesome stories, depicting blood and gore. And yet still I decided to walk through it. At night.  
  
I was moving through the cracked, dusty and half-finished buildings with caution, listening for the rumble of a chain saw or the swoosh of an ax, when I saw the familiar orangish glow of a fire. My breath caught in my throat and I though **Oh god, I'm gonna die.** I should have run, but then my thoughts turned to, **Hey, what's the worst that could happen? Go take a look.** So, with that slight consolation, I decided to creep closer.  
  
Edging along an unfinished wall, I peered around the empty doorway that had been cut before the construction stopped. I nearly laughed at what I saw. It was merely an old, homeless man, sleeping in his dirtied trenchcoat. I kind of felt sorry for him. Turning away from him I looked at the wall across from me. That was why I saw the glimmering object in the hole in the wall. The wall was scarred with many holes, but in the one that I happened to look at something blue was softly reflecting the light.  
  
Once again, my curiousity got the better of me, and I decided to take a look. Creeping closer to the other wall, I reached my hand into the hole and pulled out the cube. That's what it was; a cube. About three to four inches on each side, it seemed to glow internally with its own sort of power.  
  
Concentrating hard on it, I looked for designs, or any other sort of distinguishing feature. Suddenly I felt tingling; not like pain, but strange nonetheless. All the hairs on my arm rose; then suddenly the tingling stopped, and the hair dropped back down. Shrugging my shoulders, I continued to examine the box. It was very pretty, for a small plain little box, but when I peered closer, I saw what looked like little symbols or a sort of writing. It was unlike any writing I had ever seen.  
  
I thought about keeping that box. I seriously did. But then, I don't know...it's like this feeling washed over me, telling me not to take it. The past half year these feelings had never been wrong, so I listened to it. Putting the box gently back into the hole I had found it in, I leaned back and examined the wall again. I had pushed the box farther in than it had been before, and now it wasn't really visible. I was happy for that, for some reason I didn't want anybody else to find it.  
  
Satisfied that no one would find the beautiful box, I crept past the sleeping man, and headed home. 


	2. The Experiment

THE INTRODUCTION Chapter Two: Nicole  
  
Stepping into my house, I took off my shoes and briefly leaned against the wall. For some reason I was exhausted and I felt like doing nothing but sleeping. I called a brief hello to my parents (who didn't notice me due to their involvement in TV), and plodded upstairs to my room.  
  
There, in the middle of my room, messing with all of my spell books and powders and things, was my little brother. "You little brat!" I screamed at him; we did not get along well at all. "Get out of my room!!" Normally I would have just zapped him out of there, but for some reason I felt like manhandling him out. Grabbing him by the shoulders, I was so intent on dragging him out that I noticed him kind of get limp in my arms. I freaked out, thinking I had hurt him or something.  
  
I was getting ready to call for help when he came-to in my arms, struggled out of my grip, stuck out his tongue, and ran off. "Urrrghhh!" I called after him, "You are such a brat!!" I went back into my my and slammed the door shut, not bothering to muffle the sound. I pointed my stuff back into place, muttering under my breath about how my stuff just wasn't mine anymore.  
  
I don't know how what happened next happened at first, but I think it was because of my intense concentration. My concentration was currently circling around my brother, for he was the latest thing on my mind. I was thinking about how he never left me alone, and concentrating on him so hard that the changes just began. I didn't realize then what was happening, but I felt very, very strange. Closing my eyes, I felt as if I was getting smaller. When that feeling passed I opened my eyes and got an urge to look in the mirror. What I saw made me gasp. Actually my reaction was more near a scream. I was my brother!!! I mean, I looked exactly like him! I pointed frantically at myself, trying to zap my body back. It wasn't working.  
  
I was in near panic mode...I looked like my little brother!! But then one of those feelings that I always get washed over me. It told me, in my head, to concentrate on myself, and an image of myself. I couldn't at first, because I was thinking that it was a foolish thing to do. But then I did, concentrating on a mental image of myself in my head. Slowly I began to change back into my normal form, and, for some reason, I was strangely calm about the whole thing. Thinking back to my brother, I though about how he had near fainted. For some reason I tied the two together. Something had happened then. I got an Idea and I decided to try it out.  
  
Turning to my ball pythons cage, I pulled him out and concentrated on him as he slithered through my hands. The usually active snake lay still in my arms. Within about ten seconds he was active again, wrapping around my wrists and slithering up my arm. Unwrapping him, I placed him back in the cage and concentrated on the newly formed image of him in my head.  
  
The first thing that happened was the disappearance of my arms. They sort of just slooped up into my body. I was a 5' 6" tall human with no arms and I looked disgusting. I knew this because I could see myself in the mirror. Next my legs melded together and my pupils became vertical slits. "That's kind of a cool efesssss..." My thought trailed off as my tongue changed its form. As the rest of the changes took place, I became very glad that I could no longer really see what was happening. The changes that were happening felt disgusting, and it seemed like I should be in pain. This wasn't like changing into my brother; he was just smaller and a boy. With the snake nothing was where it should be; well, nothing but my backbone.  
  
#  
  
When I was finished I was in complete darkness. At first I couldn't figure out what it was, but then I realized it was my clothes lying around me in a pile. Slithering out of the folds, I flicked my tongue in and out of my mouth. Surveying my room was confusing. Everything looked very strange, and the vision was based upon movement and heat.  
  
Suddenly I saw something bright with life. The heat emanating from the little creature was vibrant in my vision. And it was moving. I just had time to think I have a mouse in my room? as I zoomed toward the poor thing. Nooooo! I cried as I struck the thing and wrapped it in my coils, What's happening?! As I squeezed tighter and tighter around the little fluff of warmth and life and food...It's not food!! I'm not a snake! Suddenly I felt my coils loosening as I gained control of the body; but it was too late. The mouse was already dead. I shuddered and the action felt strange in my foriegn body. Who knew snakes were so voracious?I whispered quietly to myself. I looked at the little body whose warmth was slowly fading away.  
  
Shaken, I decided to get out of the body. Moving silently to the middle of my room, I concentrated on myself. Within about thirty seconds I was myself again. In nothing but my bra and underwear. "I gotta work on that," I said to myself. Then I thought about what I had just said. I had subconciously decided to continue doing this. This was more powerful than what I could do with shapeshifting and my powers, and it was also more real. It had been like me and the snake were one. The instincts and everything were in my head.  
  
Shrugging my shoulders I pulled on my jeans, only to realize my clothes were shredded. "Huh," I looked down at the tattered clothing. Zapping it back into shape, I put them away, and pointed some pajama's onto myself. I really gotta work on the clothes thing. Thinking about how my bra and underwear had not been shredded, I put two and two together. Maybe the things have gotta be skintight. I decided I was going to try that out. Not tonight, but the next time I changed. 


	3. The Search

THE INTRODUCTION Chapter Three  
  
I sat on the edge of my bed, contemplating what had happened within the past hour or so. It confused the heck out of me. But, just as earlier, my instincts told me this had something to do with the blue box that I had found.  
  
But what was it? Was that box some sort of magic device? I had enough of those lying around the house to know one, but this didn't seem like a magical thing. This was more powerful; more advanced. I thought about how I had put the box back into the wall. Was that a smart thing to do? Should I go back and get it? Something in my head told me no. That box didn't belong to me, so I should leave it alone. What if somebody hid it there on purpose? But think of all the power something said from another side of my brain, wouldn't you like to have all that power?  
  
That made me think. That surely was a lot of power, even for someone with decent magical powers. But my morality was very strong, and I couldn't just take anything that wasn't mine. I decided, with effort, to leave the box where it was. It was a very tough decision to make, believe me, for all that power was a definite temptation. But I wanted to do the right thing.  
  
Then I thought of something else. I couldn't possibly be the only one who found that box. What if somebody else had powers like me? That would rock!! I could get together with them and talk about strange experiences. The thought made me giddy. I had to find out if there was anyone else.  
  
Grabbing one of the books my brother had thrown on the floor earlier, I perused through the table of contents, looking for a specific page. "Yes! People finder!" Flipping eagerly through the pages, I found the one I wanted and grinned. It was like the magical white pages. "Who do you wish to find?" the book intoned, the voice that of a bored operator. "Anyone who has powers like the ones I just acquired." The picture of the operator looked at me and said, "Please put your finger in the little square in the upper left-hand corner." I did so, and I felt a tingle as it read information. "Matches are on the next page."  
  
I flipped the page and nearly gasped. Who knew there were that many? I counted seven. Looking at the pictures of them all, I grinned. People I could now relate to; cool. Three of the pictures confused me though. Two of them had weird lookin' blue aliens, and another had a picture of a hawk I recognized as a red-tail. Of the two aliens, one looked somewhat young in comparison to the other, and the other seemed to radiate evil.  
  
I decided right then and there I would try to get in touch with the cute looking one named Jake. The other guy, Marco, was pretty cute too, but Jake just had this air about him. This air of leadership.  
  
I wondered if they all knew each other? The six of them, minus the one called 'Visser Three', seemed nice; and the one called 'Visser Three' seemed purely evil. Bookmarking that page, I decided to get some rest. I would contact Jake tomorrow. For now I would sleep. 


	4. The Venture

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of the animorphs, except my character Nicole, her brother, and anything hers (well, except for the morphing ability).  
  
THE INTRODUCTION Chapter Four  
  
I woke in the morning with the sunlight shining into my eyes. "Argh!" I groaned as I rolled over. That was the worst way to wake up. The worst. It made you feel like you were blind.  
  
Looking around, I looked at my alarm. My attention had been riveted to it, because, for some reason, although it was summer, I had set it for seven. It was blaring beeping noises which annoyed me to no end. I pointed it off. Why on earth would I want to wake up at seven in the middle of summer? Then my eyes fell on the bookmarked book that I had set aside last night. "Oh yeah!" I jumped up out of bed and opened the book, "Sweet!" The pictures and information were still there. I hit the button that said 'print' in the corner of the page, and then, through the binding, out came a hard-copy of the information, complete with pictures and all. "Awesome!"  
  
Folding the paper in two I grinned. Sometimes having powers really came in handy. Then I frowned; there were some limitations however. Like, I couldn't bring anyone back from the dead, I couldn't time travel on my sole powers, I couldn't really alter my situation (though in class, trust me, I tried); these are just a few of many things. Though, unlike the TV show 'Sabrina' I could zap in any name brands I wanted. "Woohoo!"  
  
Zapping into some capris and a tank top, I folded the paper in half once more, and shoved it into my back pocket. Brushing my hair, I dashed downstairs for breakfast. Pawing through the cabinets I looked for something suitable to eat. "Where are my froste.?" I heard someone giggling. Turning around, I gritted my teeth as I saw my brother pop the last morsel of frosted shredded wheat into his gaping mouth. "Urgghhh!!" Sure I could zap in some more, but that wasn't what mattered. It was the principal that counted.  
  
Pointing at my brother, I zapped some tape onto his mouth. It wasn't just any tape either; duct tape was my tool. I grinned as his eyes widened. He reached up to his mouth to see how his situation was; it didn't look good. He'd either a)have a patch of raw skin where he ripped of the tape along with some extremely dry lips, b)have to walk around all day with tape on his mouth and get hungry, or c) wait until I zapped it off painlessly. Zapping in a pack of pop-tarts I grabbed 'em, grinned at my brother, and said "Have a nice day."  
  
That had just made my day. See, if he were three years older, he could have zapped the tape off himself. Maybe. But he was only ten now, so he would have to wait. Stepping out of my door, I grinned as a fresh breeze blew along, making the heat a little more bearable. "Now to find Jake." Pulling the paper out of my back pocket, I looked for his address. This made me grin even more; he only lived about three-four minutes away from me. I quickly glanced at the other's addresses. Two of them lived really close to me as well, and one of them, a girl named Cassie, lived at the edge of town. The other three confused me. Tobias lived at 'The meadow', Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill at 'The woods', and Visser Three lived at 'The Blade Ship'. I shrugged. I would deal with finding them later. First, Jake.  
  
Setting off in the direction of his house, I walked leisurely along. Why rush? The day was beautiful, and I wasn't in a hurry. I glanced up at the sky, and saw a red-tail riding the thermals. Somewhere in my head I said, "Huh, I wonder if that's Tobias?" But that was just a thought. There were a few red-tails in this area, not one.  
  
As I approached Jake's house, I began to get nervous. What if he hated me? What if he thought that I was evil? What if, what if, what it? So many what if's. I guess I just had to find out. Walking up his driveway, I noted no car in the driveway. Even though I was nervous, I was hoping he was home. Stepping up to his door, I reached a hand up and knocked.  
  
CLIFFHANGER, EH? I LOVE EM! 


	5. The Greeting

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of the animorphs, except my character Nicole, her brother, and anything hers (well, except for the morphing ability).  
  
THE INTRODUCTION Chapter Five  
  
I waited for about five seconds, I was so nervous. I was about to reach up and knock again, when suddenly the door swung open. Standing there was this gorgeous hunk of a man, who looked older than Jake, but not too much. He looked at me with uncaring eyes; eyes occupied with thoughts of something else. "Is Jake there?" I asked timidly.  
  
The gorgeous man nodded his head, and turned to look over his shoulder. "Jake!!!!" He yelled. From the other corner of the house I heard a reply. "What Tom? What do you want?" "Someone at the door for you!!" The gorgeous man named Tom looked back at me. "He'll be right here," he said, then he walked off, leaving the door open and not inviting me in. I heard Jake ask him about that as he was walking up. "You didn't invite her in?" he said in a hushed whisper. "Didn't see any need to," Tom replied with a I'm-the-older-cooler-brother-so-i-don't-have-to-talk-to-your- friends grin and walked off.  
  
Jake walked up to the door, and gestured in. "Come in," he said. I did so, somehow clumsily tripping over the front stoop. Embarrassed, I plopped into the chair he offered me, flushing red. He oozed confidence, not arrogance, but confidence, and that made me feel idiotic. As he sat on the loveseat opposite me, he looked at me with questioning. "Do I know you from school?" I shook my head. "Nope," I replied, "I just found out about you."  
  
Instantly his eyes narrowed. "Found out what about me?" he said, looking at me intently. I got shaken, not expecting this reaction. Why was he looking at me with suspicion? "I found out about what you can do." Now I definitely wasn't imagining it, he looked as if he hated me.  
  
Glaring at me intently, he leaned forward. "Listen Yeerk," he whispered through gritted teeth, "You will not win. Who have you told so far?" I didn't hear past what he first said. "Yeerk?" I asked him, confused. He laughed a harsh, derisive laugh. "Right," he said, "You're not a Yeerk. How else could you have found out about me?" I didn't really answer his question. "What's a Yeerk?"  
  
Now he looked at me somewhat quizzically. "Normally Yeerks, once exposed, do not try to hide the fact that they are Yeerks," but then he seemed to make up his mind. "Nope, can't risk it, is this a trap?.(then to himself).wait of course she wouldn't tell me if it was a trap.(to me again).Stay here." The last command was in a crisp, sharp voice. I sat still and didn't move. Jake was scaring me. It didn't even come into my head that I should use my powers, instead I thought, **That evil looking Visser dude woulda probably been nicer compared to Jake.** But then something in my head told me that was a big no no.  
  
I heard Jake making some hushed phone calls. Then he walked back into the living room. Looking around, he called for Tom. "Hey Tom," he called, looking in the direction of the hall. "Yeah, little bro," he said, walking into the room. He looked like he was getting ready to go somewhere. "You goin' somewhere?" Tom shrugged his shoulders, "What's it to you? Do I have to clear it with you before I go?" Tom cleared his throat, "Almighty Jake, ruler of this household, do I have thou's permission to leave?" Then he made a mocking bow, a smirk on his face all the while.  
  
Jake laughed, though in my opinion it sounded somewhat forced. Then he threw a pillow at him. Tom ducked, avoiding the brightly colored projectile, and laughed while walking towards the door. "Just go," Jake said, looking after his brother. Tom looked back before he walked out the door. "Thanks almighty Jake," he said, then he winked.  
  
As soon as he was out the door, and had closed it, Jake looked at me. "Upstairs, now." That wasn't a "Would you like to go upstairs?" or a "how bout we go upstairs?" that was a "Get your butt upstairs now". So I did, I wasn't about to disobey him. Turning to the stairs, I began to climb. 


	6. The Interrogation

THE INTRODUCTION Chapter Six  
  
Jake climbed the stairs directly behind me, making me nervous out of my mind. **Why does he have to be so close?** I thought nervously. **Why can't he hover a few feet back?**  
  
When I reached the top of the stairs, he barked an order. "To the left, into that room there." I went without an audible complaint. But inside my head I was screaming them. **You jerk, you little.how dare you treat me this way! I can't believe my dignity is being hurt this way.I should have never come.** And on and on and on. I had so many complaints that I was beginning to annoy myself.  
  
Once in the room, he told me to sit in a little chair at the desk. But first he pulled it to the center of the room. I felt like I was going to be interrogated. "Sit, now." Like a child being told what to do, I sat. I felt like it wouldn't be the smartest thing in the world to contradict Jake.  
  
The moment I was seated, Jake said, "Alright Ax, show yourself." For a moment, I thought he had gone insane.was he talking to me? Then, out of seemingly nothing, a monstrous bug began to grow. It had huge tusk-looking things, and a tough armored shell, and I noticed the shell was changing to blue fur. I admired myself for not screaming, because that was certainly what I felt like doing.  
  
When the.the.thing finished changing, the creature that stood in the place of what I presumed had been a flea, looked familiar. I gasped, "Visser Three!!" Next thing I knew, I had a tail blade pressed to my throat. Never call me that again the creature said, but didn't really say. I had heard the voice only in my head. I put my hands to my head, to see if I could block out the sound, but I could not.  
  
From the look in Jake's eyes, and the way that the creature had his main eyes focused on him, I guessed that the.alien was speaking to him. When he snapped out of what looked like a daze, he looked at me. The expression in his eyes was unreadable, and he pointed at me. "Explain why you are here."  
  
I swallowed, because, for some reason, I felt like there was more that just two people.living beings watching me. So, reluctantly, I explained how I had found the box, changed into my brother, gotten information on him and the others, and so forth. When I was finished, he looked thoughtful, then distracted. I figured out that the alien was speaking to him again.  
  
"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Jake asked simply. I shrugged my shoulders. "Do whatever you need to do to prove to yourself that I am telling the truth." Jake and Ax looked thoughtful at that statement. Or from what I could tell, the blue furred, four-eyed, deer-like scorpion boy looked thoughtful. I couldn't really tell for sure. "Well, there is one thing we can do." I didn't like the tone in Jakes voice. It sounded like he was planning something that I wouldn't like at all.  
  
"Come with me." He said to me. Then, turning to the Andalite (I don't know how I suddenly knew that this thing was an Andalite), he said "Go into your falcon morph Ax, do you remember the little shed out in the woods that you had to take me too when I became a controller?" Ax nodded his head, a gesture that looked alien to me, coming from him. Maybe it was because he was an alien. Yes Prince Jake. "Don't call me Prince." Yes Prince Jake. I nearly laughed, did the Andalite have a sense of humor? "Well, I need you to fly out there, make sure it is still empty. We'll be making sure that this girl is telling the truth." Ax nodded again and immediately began to change. I didn't like the tone with which Jake had said "this girl" but I dealt with it. Hey, I was in his house, and he felt threatened by me for some reason. Why wouldn't I shut up? "Come with me," he said again. Except this time he made a move towards the door. I stood up, under his watchful eye, and followed him out of the door. When we got out of his room, he told me to stay where I was, as he turned back to the room. "You guys heard me. Go where Ax is going, I'll meet you there with Nicole." Then he shut the door. Was this guy nuts? Who was he talking to? Then I remembered my feeling that I had earlier. Maybe the others were in the room in Morph.  
  
As he walked down the stairs, behind me, he kept muttering things under his breath. I didn't even try to hear what he was saying, I didn't think that I wanted to. When we got downstairs to the main hall by the front door, he tapped me on my shoulder to stop me. "When we go outside, I want you to act like we are just going for a walk, Okay?" I was somewhat of a smart aleck in my reply. "Well that's what we're doing, Isn't it?" Jake noticed the tone with which I spoke, and he prodded me in the back, "Act like we're friends, and that we're going on a friendly walk to the woods." I nodded. "That shouldn't be too hard," I muttered under my breath. "What?" Jake asked, hearing part of it. "Nothing."  
  
And so we went for a walk. All the while the thoughts rotating in my head like **I thought these people would be nice** and **I wonder where the hell we're going?** and **I hope they don't kill me. I'm so stupid!** But soon enough we got to where we were going, although I had no clue where exactly it was. There to greet me was a wolf, a bear, a fierce looking hawk, the Andalite, and a big gorilla. "Nice task force," I commented. The wolf growled, and the gorilla got up on it's knuckles. I decided that the smart ass comments should stop.  
  
Jake pointed towards the little shed that was in front of me. "See that?" he asked. I nodded. "That is where I spent three days to get a yeerk out of my head. To prove that you aren't a yeerk, you've got to stay there three days." I looked at him incredulously. "What?" "Exactly what I said." "What'll I eat? How'll I use the bathroom?" The questions seemed to flow from my mouth. All Jake said was "We'll see to that." I sighed and resigned myself to getting tied up in the shed with my "guard", which at the moment were the gorilla and the bear. They seemed to be arguing with the way that they tilted their heads at each other. Then they both looked at me. Three days, and we'll see if you are telling the truth I just nodded. The things I'd do to get accepted.Jesus.  
  
Good thing my parents didn't really notice me at all. Or else I'd be in some serious trouble. 


	7. The Proven

THE INTRODUCTION  
Chapter Seven  
  
The three days for me was agony. I knew that I would prove that I was telling the truth, but needless to say, spending three days tied up in a tiny shack in the woods is not comfortable. Not in the least bit. Over those days the six of them took turns watching over me, and I suspected that the others were around at different times in the day. But they did provide me with food and water, if not a comfortable place to sleep.  
  
By the end of the third day, all of them were gathered around, discussing something in muted tones. They were outside of the open door of the shed, where I was still tied. Jake, and a couple of the others had shocked looks on their faces, and as far as Ax was concerned, I really couldn't tell. How could you read alien features? I certainly couldn't.  
  
After what seemed like hours of discussion, the group, as a whole, came over to me. "Well," Jake said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking rather ashamed, "It's apparent that you aren't a yeerk. You just never know nowadays, you have to be careful all the time." I sighed and looked at my bound wrists and ankles. "I say nothing," I told them, "except to ask, for the millionth time: What the hell is a yeerk?" A sort of relieved laughter broke out among the five of them, with Ax just standing there looking mildly amused. "It's a long story," the pretty black girl named Cassie said, "But before we tell you, would you like to be untied?" I gave her a look, and said in sarcastic tones, "Nah, I think I'd rather be tied up for the rest of my life." Then I laughed, "Yes, please."  
  
As I was freed, I rubbed my sore muscles. Looking up after what seemed like days of stretching, I looked them all in the eyes. "Now would somebody please tell me what a yeerk is?" 


	8. The Magic

THE INTRODUCTION  
Chapter Eight  
  
They all looked at one another. "That's kind of a long story," the cute guy named Marco said, "Well, actually it's a really long story. What say guys," he asked looking around at his friends and then me, "I think we should go somewhere more appropriate to tell this story." They all nodded, and Ax began to morph a human. When he was finished, I noticed that he had some sort of cheesy looking spandex clothes on. **I was right,** I thought to myself, **it has to be skintight.** "Alright you guys," Jake said, "Lets go."  
  
A little while later we were in Cassie's barn. I looked around me in awe at all the wounded animals housed there. "Your dad's a veterinarian?" I asked Cassie, wanting to make sure I was right. "My mom too," Cassie replied, "Except she works at the Gardens." I nodded my head, I had been to the gardens before. Fun coasters.  
  
Pretty soon everyone was seated in different areas, some on bales of hay. All except for Cassie that is; she was feeding a raccoon that had burn marks on it. I myself was seated on a particularly comfortable bale of hay, with another one to my back. It was like a grassy lounge chair. Turns out it was a good thing I was comfortable. Because that story did take a long time to tell. When Jake had finished, however, I was anything but tired or bored. My eyes were wide, having heard all that they went through, all the battles, the blood. "Wow," I said out loud, "You guys have been through a lot."  
  
They silently nodded, Cassie seated by now. Then Rachel, the pretty blonde that seemed not to fit into the categorical blonde area at all, spoke up. "Explain to us," she said, a quizzical look on her face, "how exactly you found out about us." She gestured with her arms to indicate the six of them. I gulped. The secret that I kept within the walls of my home, the ears of my relatives, was about to be spilled to, as far as I was concerned, six complete strangers. The pause was immeasurable. Finally I got up the guts to tell.  
  
"Well," I said, drawing it out as long as I could, "Actually, I'm a witch." I stopped at that. It seemed to be a prompt for the five of them, sans Ax, to start laughing. I crossed my arms and got all huffy; this was my life and they thought I was joking. When they noticed I wasn't laughing at all, they slowed and stopped. Marco, who seemed to be the joker of the group, sat up. "Are you telling us that you're like Sabrina on TV?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Something like that," I replied, "Except I have no witches council, nor do I have restrictions on name brands." Rachel seemed to perk up at that. "Really?" she said, her voice brimming with curiosity, "so, say I wanted the latest Gap outfit out there, you could make it appear?"  
  
Now it was my turn to laugh. "Yep, that's what I'm saying." "How bout a car?" That question was from Marco, "Like a 2003 Dodge viper, complete with everything, and in the color black." I nodded, "I could do that to." "Do it," was the instantaneous reply from everyone but Jake and Ax. "Come on you guys," he said, talking to his friends, "This is like exploitation or something like that." I looked at him, genuinely appreciative for his concern, "It's okay."  
  
We walked outside, Jake looking like he felt bad for me. I didn't mind though, its not like I was being forced into anything. Looking around, I discretely pointed to an empty spot in the dirt drive and muttered a rhyme while envisioning what I wanted. "No one near, no one far, Please give me this awesome car." The rhyme was lame, I know, but it worked. One second it was just an empty dirt and gravel drive, the next second a glorious black, shiny, chrome-rimmed, fully-loaded Viper sat where air had been before. Everyone just stared. All that is, except for Ax. "How exactly is it that you make things appear out of nothing? Or was this always here, merely cloaked? Loaked.clo..cloaked." I looked at him and shrugged, ignoring the fact that he kept going over the word, "I really don't know Ax, it wasn't here that's the only thing I know," I looked around me, then back to Ax, "What it is called though in today's terms is 'magic' or 'witchcraft'." Ax looked thoughtful.  
  
"That is absolutely amazing," Marco said, walking up to the car, "Can I open it?" I leaned down and picked up the keys that had materialized at my feet when the car appeared. "Sure thing," I said, tossing him the keys. He wasted no time in pressing the unlock button on the remote, and opening up the car. Drivers side of course. "Rachel," he said, his voice in awe, "Have you ever seen this much leather? Or finish? This thing shines!!" Rachel was looking at the car very appreciatively too; she got in on the passenger side. Marco, in the meantime, had taken to pretending he was driving. "You're such an idiot," she said, rolling her eyes, "You have the keys, start the car."  
  
Marco looked at me, eyes gleaming, "Can I?" I grinned at him and nodded, "Go ahead." He quickly put the keys in the ignition, and turned it, anxiously waiting for the sound of the engine. Nothing happened. "It's a standard, "I said, "Put your foot on the clutch all the way and try again." He did what I said and turned the key again. This time the engine roared to life with an appreciative growl. "Whoa," he said, "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard." Rachel hit his arm, "Like you know the first thing about how an engine should sound." He grinned sheepishly, "Well it sounds beautiful to me." Rachel laughed, listening to the engine, "I guess so."  
  
"Hey kids." We all looked up in shock at the sound of a new voice. "Oh, hi dad," Cassie said, "Going to check the barn? I was just there, everything's fine." He smiled, "Nah, I wasn't going to check the barn, I know you're capable of caring for the animals Cass," He looked at the Viper, with it's engine still idling, "I just heard this beauty roar to life, and wondered what it was." Everyone looked relieved. "Whose is it anyways?" he asked, looking around to all of us. When his eyes settled on me, the new one in the group, he put out his hand. "Hi, I'm Cassie's dad, are you a new friend?" I shook his hand, smiling back at him, "Yes, I just met everybody.I know Cassie from school." He nodded, then looked around at us again. "Alright you guys, don't get into any trouble now, Okay?" We all just laughed, as if trouble was the farthest thing from our minds.  
  
When he had left, they all looked at me, and Marco turned off the car, giving me back the keys. Jake finally voiced the question they all wanted to ask, "What exactly can you do with these powers?" I felt uncomfortable under all their intense stares, especially Tobias, because he was in hawk form, and lemme tell you, those eyes can stare. "I can do almost anything, under certain exceptions." Marco gestured, "Like?" I ticked them off on my fingers, "I cannot kill with them, I cannot raise the dead with them, I cannot make anyone fall in love, I cannot affect free will in anyway, I cannot create new life, and I cannot manipulate natural forces." "Wow," Rachel said, "That's a lot of conditions." I shrugged, "I've gotten used to the limitations, its more of a morality thing." They all just nodded.  
  
Finally Jake spoke. "Well," he said, looking at everyone, "We have school tomorrow, and I think this is enough excitement for one day. (everyone nodded at that) Why don't we all get some rest tonight, and tomorrow after school, we'll make a trip to the gardens, Nicole will need some morphs." Then Cassie turned to me, "Eat lunch with me and Rach tomorrow?" I nodded and smiled, "Sure thing. You guys don't all eat together?" Jake shook his head, "Don't want to arouse any suspicions by hanging around each other all the time." I could see the logic in that, "True, true."  
  
I turned to the car I had magicked into existence. "Well then," I said, looking at the darkening sky, "I've been gone three days, I guess I should be getting home." When I mentioned the three days, the whole group looked kind of abashed, and I laughed. "Don't worry about putting me through that, I understand," I looked them all in the eyes, "You can never be too careful." They looked slightly livened at that. I got into the car, rolled down the window, and started the engine. Waving at them, I put the car into first, and pulled out of the dirt drive. Once I got onto paved roads, I used the power that the car had and soon was soaring down the road in fifth gear, (I didn't use sixth gear on suburban roads) doing ninety. I prided myself on my driving skills, comparing them to those of stunt or professional drivers on closed courses. Using my powers to make sure that no cars, kids, dogs, cats, police, etc. would get in my way, I grinned as I sped home. Being a witch sure did have its perks. 


End file.
